Former Lake County tourism chief accused of fraud
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The former CEO of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, who filed suit against agency in 2022, is now facing a counterclaim that accuses him of defrauding the group out of more than $400,000.
Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report the agency claims Speros Batistatos received the money as compensation for unused vacation time he did not earn.
The counterclaim says Batistatos used an option to sell back his unused vacation days as deferred compensation. The agency alleges that he intentionally misrepresented the benefits he was due on his time records.
“Between 2014 and 2021, Batistatos received over $200,000 from the SSCVA in Vacation Day buy-backs that were accrued by his erroneous and deceptive reporting of time off,” the counterclaim says. “Batistatos avoided designating his time off as Vacation Days by inappropriately entering (or directing others to enter) the codes for other benefits—ones which he had not earned—on his time records.”
Additionally, the SSCVA says it paid over $200,000 into Batistatos’s Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company annuity in matching funds.
The agency is accusing Batistatos of fraud and unjust enrichment.
“Batistatos did not report Vacation Days because he intended to cash in ‘unused’ Vacation Days to receive a financial benefit from the SSCVA,” according to the counterclaim.
The Times said Batistatos was not immediately available for comment on the counterclaim.
In July 2021, the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors voted to remove Batistatos from his position after weeks of conflict regarding contract negotiations. He filed suit the following month seeking reinstatement, claiming his contract was not renewed due to age discrimination.
Portions of the lawsuit were dismissed in August 2023.
The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority is asking the court to award damages against Batistatos “sufficient to address the money that Batistatos wrongfully caused to be diverted to him as a result of his buy-back scheme.”